WASHINGTON (AP) - The Oglala Sioux Tribe is getting a federal grant of nearly $8.8 million to upgrade a road on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwest South Dakota.

The grant is part of a total of $474 million in U.S. Transportation Department grants for projects in 37 states.

Money from the DOT's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program will upgrade 17.6 miles of loose gravel road to a paved surface.

The Transportation Department says the project will improve connections to jobs, educational institutions and health care facilities on the reservation, while also supporting tourism on the reservation and the south unit of Badlands National Park. The project also is designed to improve safety on the road.